


Rescue

by china_shop



Category: White Collar
Genre: Canon Relationships, Episode Tag, F/M, Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-07
Updated: 2014-02-07
Packaged: 2018-01-11 11:00:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1172251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/china_shop/pseuds/china_shop
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Episode tag for 5.13.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rescue

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to morebliss for the idea.

Neal's assailants escorted him down a short flight of stone steps. There was the beep of a keypad, the click of a lock, hands shoving at him, and he stumbled forward into a room. It was cool and dank, smelled of Chinese food. His footsteps echoed slightly. Through the hood, he could see a faint glimmer -- a lamp or a window. The door closed behind him. 

"Untie me," he said, in case there was someone else there. His wrists and shoulders ached and his mouth was dry, but he wasn't afraid. There'd been every chance for the thugs to rough him up on the journey -- maybe six or eight hours -- but he was unharmed, if thirsty. If they planned to kill him, they wouldn't have been so careful, and if they weren't going to kill him, he could escape, given time. "I need water."

Someone moved around him, their tread light, their movements efficient. A small hand steadying his wrists, a tugging-flicking sensation and then he was free. He rotated his hands, loosening the stiff joints, breathing deeply. 

"What do you want with me? Who are you?" He tugged off his hood without waiting for an answer.

The room was plain: a brick basement with a small round table and three chairs. A paperback lay face-down on the table, next to a coffee mug and some takeout containers. There was an interior door in the wall to his right. He turned to see who had freed him, and his heart stuttered. The room tipped violently. "What--?"

"Hello, Neal."

"Kate?!" He stepped back, shocked. "You. _Kate?_ "

She was older, of course, her face lean and harder, her hair short and an automatic in a holster at her waist. But it was Kate, no doubt about it, and her eyes were shining with pleasure at the sight of him.

He tried to summon an answering elation, but he couldn't feel anything. "Where the hell have you been?"

"South America, Eastern Europe, Asia--" She trailed off. "I had to hide. Adler-- he knew I knew too much. He would have hunted me down and finished what he started." She moved closer, took his hand. "God, Neal. I missed you so much."

"Adler's dead."

"I know that now. It took a while for the news to filter through, and by then--" She shook her head impatiently. "But you knew I'd come for you. You got my messages, right?"

Neal stared at her. "I thought you were dead." Secret messages could only get through if the recipient knew to look for them. He hadn't known. How could he not have known? The world had seemed achingly empty, but it had been an illusion. "I saw you die."

There was a sharp knock at the interior door, three raps. Kate seemed to gather herself. "Well, I didn't. And we have to go. Now."

"Go where?" Neal shook his head, still dazed. "What's going on, Kate?"

"I shouldn't be here," she said. "It's not safe for me. I know--" She held up a hand to forestall him. "The Feds killed Adler, but it's not just him. Turns out I have a knack for attracting the wrong kind of attention. If I'm not out of the country in the next twenty-four hours, chances are some guys from a drug cartel will find me, and they won't be gentle." Her mouth twisted, but she didn't look scared. She was obviously used to fending for herself.

"So you had me _kidnapped_?"

"I couldn't wait any longer," she said. "It's been years, and there was no time for explanations. You didn't reply to my messages. I knew the Feds still had you, so I figured that was why. I had to come and rescue you."

"Rescue me?" He put his hands on her shoulders and gazed down at her. A woman who knew what he was and loved him anyway. Someone he trusted -- maybe not implicitly, but close enough. They could build a life together. 

Something twisted in his heart, a key in a lock unleashing a world of possibilities. Perhaps he could have it all, even now. 

"Set you free," she said. Her eyes were watchful, assessing his reaction, willing him to roll with it. 

What the hell. Peter was going to Washington. Neal had nothing to stay for. They could contact Mozzie in a month or two and arrange a rendezvous, once the FBI heat had died down. Neal bent and kissed Kate, the love of his life, and the years, the loneliness and grief, fell away. When he pulled back, she was grinning like a mischievous teenager, a wicked light in her eye. He'd forgotten that, forgotten everything but the innocence of their first meeting. He had a lot to relearn -- and the rest of their lives to relearn it.

"You got passports?" he asked.

She wrapped her arms around him in a wild, glorious bear hug. "Of course, baby. Trust me. I've got everything we need."

 

END


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